For the second time in less than two years, the Union of Italian Jewish Communities has appealed to the Ministry of Justice for immediate application of Italian laws punishing racial discrimination.
The laws are part of the new Italian penal code which has not yet been approved. Pending overall approval, the Ministry has not implemented individual regulations. The Union, noting that it received no reply to its earlier letter of June, 1952, declared that the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Italy, including the publication of anti-Semitic stories by several newspapers, gives added urgency to its request for immediate action.
The laws which the Jews want applied now call for a five-year prison term for conviction on charges of prevention of enjoyment of civil and political rights because of race, language, religion sex or political opinion, and a four-year sentence for public incitement to hatred or contempt for persons on the same grounds. In addition, the Union wants the government to tighten the provision on incitement and to increase the sentence for those who carry out such incitement for monetary reward.
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